Why Does Coffee Make Us Feel So Good?

Just try to give it up — I dare you.

We all remember that first cup of coffee; it tasted terrible. It was too hot, too bitter and too sweet but it offered the promise of alertness after a night of poor sleep.

The wonderful thing about coffee is that it delivered on its promise every time; subsequently, you've never been able to walk away from it. If you've ever faced giving up on caffeinated coffee to lessen the symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease of the tremors associated with Parkinson's disease you know well the craving that can develop.

Why does this happen?

Two reasons: Scientists have known for many years that coffee stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine produces the euphoria and pleasant feelings that people often associate with their first cup of coffee in the morning.

Many drugs that produce euphoria, such as cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy, act upon dopamine in the brain. This action by coffee has always been an adequate explanation for why caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world.

But do we all really just crave more arousal? Is being more aroused enough to explain why for some people coffee is akin to cocaine — they crave it constantly and will work hard to have a supply always at hand?

One of my students decided to test the effects of caffeine on his chronic sleepiness by ingesting a packet of instant coffee, right out of the box. He reported that he enjoyed eating this paper packet of ground coffee so much that he decided to finish off the entire container of 32 packets! Three days later, he stopped having explosive diarrhea and finally fell asleep completely exhausted.

Another of my students claimed to consume two full pots of coffee (equivalent to about 20 cups of coffee!) every morning before coming to class. He indicated that he knew it was time to stop when the tremors in his hands became impossible to control.

These students' experiences remind me of the verses of the French novelist Honore de Balzac: "This coffee plunges into the stomach...the mind is aroused, and ideas pour forth like the battalions of the Grand Army on the field of battle...Memories charge at full gallop...the light cavalry of comparisons deploys itself magnificently; the artillery of logic hurry in with their train of ammunition; flashes of wit pop up like sharp-shooters."

To me, these behaviors suggest a level of addiction that goes beyond the simple enhancement of one neurotransmitter system.

A recent report in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research by a group of scientists from Rome explored the possibility that coffee's addictive properties also involve the brain's marijuana-like neurotransmitter system. [I've previously written about the role of this system in control mood and general brain function; here are the links: A, B, C.] This is how it all seems to work.

When you first started drinking coffee, the arousal was all you wanted and also all that you got. Still, being more attentive and vigilant was all you needed to get through the day.

As you continued drinking coffee, your liver compensated for the additional chemicals in your diet by becoming more efficient at metabolizing the caffeine. Your brain also made some adjustments. Ultimately, you needed more and more coffee each day to achieve the same level of arousal and vigilance.

While all of this was occurring, something else far more mysterious was happening inside your brain; caffeine had begun stimulating your brain's endogenous marijuana neurotransmitter system. These biochemical adjustments introduced an entirely new level of pleasure to your morning cup of java. In addition, it made avoiding that third or fourth cup of coffee even harder to accomplish.

Coffee makes us feel so good because it is able to tap into virtually every reward system our brain has evolved. Hidden within that hot elixir is a chemical that takes over your brain by mimicking the actions of cocaine and marijuana.

"This coffee plunges into the stomach...the mind is aroused, and ideas pour forth like the battalions of the Grand Army on the field of battle.... Memories charge at full gallop...the light cavalry of comparisons deploys itself magnificently; the artillery of logic hurry in with their train of ammunition; flashes of wit pop up like sharp-shooters."

I would like to get off caffeine, but I feel so dumb and tired without it. Things just seem to "click" and accounting problems just seem to be easier to understand with caffeine in my system. I'm now up to about 6 shots of espresso a day in the form of three Starbucks 8oz cans (one to wake up, one before work, and one at lunch).

I will be taking a week off soon giving me 9 days to sleep in and rest. I would like to use this time to get off caffeine. My thinking is that I will need to be ready to handle all of the brain systems affected by caffeine:
Adenosine = go to sleep with the sun and wake up naturally.
Dopamine & Serotonin = Exercise and healthy eating
What other brain systems are affected by caffeine that I might need to worry about? Any ideas on how to handle the withdraws from these systems?

I like your ideas about getting some exercise, a good diet and rest. However, pharmacological studies indicate that time is the best treatment. Within a week of avoiding all caffeine your brain's chemistry should be back to normal. Your liver enzymes will take a little longer.

I really think I have some insight into this question. The answer us simply to stop drinking coffee, and to realize that it will feel wrong for a while but that your body will adapt eventually just as it adapted to make you crave coffee.

That's great if you can find ways to feel better during this period but some things in life just aren't going to be very pleasant. The key is to stop and hang in there until the cravings subside.

Decaf coffee still has caffeine, but it's about 5% of the caffeine found in regular coffee (don't hold me to that number, that's an estimate based on my own research.) so it will have these effects if you have a lot of decaf. in my opinion, the best way to stay off caffeine is to avoid products which naturally contain them and stick to caffeine free sodas.

I most be an exception of the rule. Coffee relax me. I feel so good taking a cup of coffee and go to bed and sleep nicely all night long. I am addicted to coffee, and I do not denied. I was raised since I was a baby having coffee. It was a custom in my country (Brazil). I cannot pass one day without it, with a exception during my pregnancies which I cut coffee completely. Coffee does not make me aroused or excited. It calms me down. Exercise and proper nutrition should is part of my diet but it does not help me with the craving for coffee.

I just had to comment on the assumption that people start drinking coffee just for the caffeine. Not true for everyone! I started drinking coffee as a child because I loved the smell and taste of it. I was only allowed to have it mixed about half and half with milk as a kid, but it has been a lifelong love. When I was in my 20s, I could drink it all day. Now I drink maybe one mug a day, mostly in cooler weather.

My mom is one of those people who is relaxed by coffee, and it makes her sleepy, so Eliane, you are not the only one!

This I recognise. I love coffee. I love the smell, the dark wealth of tastes. Open a new pouch of ground coffee, any coffee, and the smell is heaven. Coffee like they make in Portugal: soft, not bitter or sour although very strong and in my case with a lot of sugar.

I started drinking coffee when I was eight, drank about 7-8 mugs when I was 20, kept up with that 'till I was 35 or so.
Now I drink about 3-5 espressos a day, just for the taste. And for not getting a headache, which I seem to get when I don't drinx coffee for 2 days.

It seems to calm me: the soothing taste and warmness is impossible to get overexcited over.

I seem to remember that DSM IV claims one point of addiction would be that you can't ween yourself off the drug, and another that you need more and more of the drug for it to be effective. This doesn't seem to apply to coffee. Can anyone shed a light on this?
Is, according to modern psychology, coffee an addictive drug in the classical sense?

This I recognise. I love coffee. I love the smell, the dark wealth of tastes. Open a new pouch of ground coffee, any coffee, and the smell is heaven. Coffee like they make in Portugal: soft, not bitter or sour although very strong and in my case with a lot of sugar.

I started drinking coffee when I was eight, drank about 7-8 mugs when I was 20, kept up with that 'till I was 35 or so.
Now I drink about 3-5 espressos a day, just for the taste. And for not getting a headache, which I seem to get when I don't drinx coffee for 2 days.

It seems to calm me: the soothing taste and warmness is impossible to get overexcited over.

I seem to remember that DSM IV claims one point of addiction would be that you can't ween yourself off the drug, and another that you need more and more of the drug for it to be effective. This doesn't seem to apply to coffee. Can anyone shed a light on this?
Is, according to modern psychology, coffee an addictive drug in the classical sense?

The mechanism of caffeine dependence is a problem consisting of many social, psychological and chemical factors. The main chemical factor is that caffeine accumulates in the body as uric acid metabolites with very similar effects than caffeine itself. Fresh caffeine binds these waste materials to our tissues, and when the concentration of fresh caffeine goes down, the concentration of its active metabolites goes up, causing symptoms of caffeine poisoning.

Caffeine has not one single positive effect to our health and well being, on the contrary, it causes more than 80% of all mental problems, suicides, ischemic heart diseases, neurological and autoimmune diseases like CFS, fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis, cancer etc, etc.

Caffeine and cannabis addictions are based on reversed effects of these two substances in hippocampus. An article about this can be found in my blog.

I've always used caffeine to help me with the day for as long as I can remember, careful to never overdo it. I think if you use it moderation, its not harmful. I've personally switched from coffee to energy "shots" for the sake of convenience. I like one brand in particular, Eternal energy shot and I love it. It's very inexpensive and works amazing. Just my two cents

Does caffeine make us feel good, or is it because folks don't usually get enough sleep? Do we drink coffee to compensate for this?
I suppose there could be other ingredients in coffee, for instance folks drink sodas (cokes which have caffeine) and tea all the time which have less but sufficient caffeine.

In addition for some folks caffeine can cause anxiety and raise your heart rate and blood pressure or as on the commentators writes can make you fall asleep I guess its by putting your mind at ease for a while?

So I guess coffee initially wakes you up and puts your mind at ease but then your body crashes later on. But then how does coffee make you fall asleep, I guess it helps you give you the energy to properly fall asleep, if you fall sleep suddenly you often do not have the proper sleep, for instance if one talks on the phone while sleeping of does something energetic before going to sleep maybe your body crashes peacefully. It is interesting but not so simple. In addition there may be health benefits and consequences of coffee, so it could be the uniqueness of the beverage, for instance filtered v. unfiltered coffee.

As someone with bipolar disorder I can vouch for the anxiety thing. I had to stay off of caffeine completely when I was unmedicated as it made me sooooo high and anxious. The flipside of that is that medicated I can drink it and be just fine. My meds make me tired and caffeine gives me a little boost.

How ludicrous to even compare them! How absurd to say my enjoyable caffeine experience even remotely does something in my brain akin to that horrific time losing - hallucinogenic marijuana. It's a ridiculous article with an inaccurate conclusion. Kids will be very misled by this blog. No data anywhere suggests what this author has written.

you sound really uneducated, if you had read the article you would know it doesn't have the effects of marijuana...what they do mention is that it fools the brain and acts upon the same mechanism that marijuana does, the feeling of reward, the satisfaction of smoking a joint can be compared to the satisfaction of drinking a cup of coffee
they feel quite similar in my experience
smoking a joint isn't just the effect, same as coffee, it instantly makes you feel good but they don't instantly make their effects known to our body
same thing happens with lighting a cigarette, you feel good because it's part of the ritual that will eventually drive nicotine to your bloodstream
when someone bums the last puffs of your cigarette you won't be completely satisfied by that cigarette because putting it out is also part of the ritual, the best puffs in a cigarrete is the one after you light it and the one before trashing it

It's not so simple, coffee relaxes some, maybe because certain folks have adhd? Most folks who drink coffee do not drink it again, in other words do you have coffee for breakfast,lunch, and dinner or sip after 4 hours on the job, maybe or maybe not.

Coffee does have other components besides it and has been linked to health benefits and health risks particularly filtered coffee compared to espresso which isn't/

Tea also has caffeine not as much but still significant, a couple cups of tea can have as much caffeine as a coffee. A cappuccino may have not a lot of coffee, if only has one shot compared to a large brewed coffee. Certain sodas have caffeine, in fact coca cola and pepsi have caffeine which is their most popular drink so does dr. pepper and barq's.

To compare marijuana to coffee is absurd and is more of a headline grabber, there a not many similarities and folks have been drinking caffeine for thousands of year, would you say a couple cups of black tea is marijuana even though the caffeine is not to distant than certain varieties of coffee such as an espresso shot.

Yes it's true coffee can have an effect on dopamine but it's not so simple. One of the curious questions I have is alcohol addiction or at-least have addiction, if folks are addicted to caffeine and it helps but the mind at ease then alcohol will have the opposite effect, yet some get calm from a little bit of alcohol.

There's more to explore and maybe the author should go into more detail.